Learn about Grant PUD’s 20-year plan to power the county
Grant PUD’s commissioners will host a public hearing, July 28, during their 1 p.m. business meeting, at 30 C ST SW Ephrata WA 98823, to present its 20-year plan for providing service in the most cost-effective way possible by assembling a viable energy portfolio, preserving flexibility, managing costs and reducing exposure to myriad uncertainties.
The 2026 “Integrated Resource Plan (IRP)” is a state-mandated analysis that details how the utility will meet its customers’ demand for electricity. The plan is updated every two years. This analysis covers the years 2027-2046.
The good news:
- Grant PUD plans to have enough energy resources to meet customer demand throughout the 20-year IRP period. Resources include:
- Hydropower from its Columbia River dams, Priest Rapids and Wanapum.
- Energy purchases off the regional wholesale market.
- The already acquired 460 megawatts of solar power, 260 megawatts of battery storage and our 10-megawatt share of wind power from Energy Northwest’s Nine Canyon Wind Project in Kennewick.
- A potential “Provider of Choice” power-purchase contract from the Bonneville Power Administration.
- The utility’s existing portfolio, together with its purchase of Renewable Energy Credits, will satisfy its state Clean Energy Transformation Act requirements until nearing 2045, when the state requires 100% of its energy supply to be carbon-free.
The challenges:
- Grant PUD will need to add “capacity” – the ability to deliver more power – beginning in 2030 to have the resources necessary to participate in the Western Resource Adequacy Program (WRAP), a resource-sharing pool of Western utilities and a pillar of Grant PUD’s service-reliability and energy strategy going forward. This may involve adding more, preferably carbon-free, around-the-clock available generation, such as nuclear or geothermal, and more transmission.
- The 20-year planning window holds much uncertainty, rising asset costs, variable weather conditions, transmission availability, clean-energy mandates, evolving markets and customer needs for electricity.
Learn more about the 2026 IRP at grantpud.org/irp. Staff will present a final IRP for commission adoption Aug. 25, 2026 and must submit the IRP to the state Department of Commerce before the Sept. 1, 2026 deadline.
Commissioners will host the hearing at Grant PUD’s Ephrata Headquarters, 30 C Street SW. Comment will be taken at the July 28 public hearing or submitted by email to
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